What you pay for vs. what you get

[The internet is] the largest
equivalence class in the reflexive transitive symmetric closure
of the relationship ‘can be reached by an IP packet
from’.

— Seth Breidbart

A couple of months ago, I noticed that my internet speed had dropped
to about ⅓ of what I expect. And pay for. I called the cable company,
but they were unsympathetic. I got, roughly, “the levels are good, but
you bought a modem instead of paying the usurous rent we charge for
them, so call Netgear about it.”

The modem was roughly five years old and my experience with
residential internet equipment is that it lasts about five years. I’ve
been told it’s largely because they have inadequate cooling and the
parts just give out, but I don’t know if that’s true or not.

The simplest thing to do was just replace it. I picked a modern one off the
provider’s recommended list,…and it made absolutely no difference.

I put “must call the cable company back again” somewhere below “stick
pins in my eyes” on my todo list. Then I went to the UK for Christmas.
Then I went to XML Prague. And today I decided I was finally going to
call the cable company back and just be “that guy” until I got some
resolution. Or at the very least, change my service so that I’m only
paying for ⅓ the speed!

Before I call, I figure I’ll get setup and be ready to test things. I
pulled out my Linux laptop and plugged it directly into the cable
modem. Sure enough, speed test says…wait, what? 3× what I get on my
MacBook Pro!?

Long story only a little bit longer, back in December I got a stand up desk.
(Love it, get one; I have nothing but good things to say about the folks
at Uplift Desk.) To avoid having all of
the power cables going up and down when I raise and lower the desk, I got a new
power strip and mounted that on the underside of the desktop.

The power strip has one of those ethernet in/out arrangements that
they advertise will stop power spikes from traveling down your
internet cable. What the heck, I thought, and ran my cable through it.